Greek sculpture is known to us today through original figures and reliefs in terracotta, bronze, and marble, and through Roman copies of “masterpieces” already famous by the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. Of the surviving Greek “originals,” a large percentage were architectural, carved to decorate sacred buildings, tombs, and other monuments. These include some of the best-known material survivals of antiquity, such as the sculptures of the Parthenon, or the Pergamon altar. Architectural sculptures are also particularly valuable to the history of Greek sculpture in general, because in comparison with single figures, much more is usually known about their original contexts: when they were made, who paid for them, and where they were set up. This course will provide a chronological survey of this rich body of material, while also addressing certain pervasive thematic questions. Special attention will be paid to the sculptural adornment of Greek temples. What can we learn from these complex and often violent images about Greek social and religious values, and about Greek ideas of the power of representation?

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